Karpas

Haggadah Section: Karpas

Riddle:

You will find me in a room where no one goes

Except for the kid to read in the early morning glow

Phyllis - a Greek name meaning leafy foliage

Karpas is the vegetable eaten as an appetizer before the telling of the story and before the meal. Some scholars claim that it comes from the Persian karfas, meaning parsley; others claim that it derives from the Greek word karpos, meaning “fruit of the soil.” Parsley and celery are commonly used, but potatoes, radishes and even lettuce are customary as well. Early medieval commentaries (Tosafot Pesahim 114a) note the custom of dipping the karpas in either saltwater or vinegar. Interestingly, the Talmud (ibid. 114b) does not mention the word karpas and does not mention what is used for the dip; but it does highlight this act as something which was done to stimulate the children to ask questions, leading into the telling of the story.

Commentaries link the “dippings” with two events in the Torah:

1. When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, they dipped his tunic into goat’s blood and deceived their father into thinking that Joseph was devoured by a wild animal. The letters of the word כרפס (karpas) hint to the פסים כתונת (kutonet pasim), the multi-colored garb that Jacob gave Joseph. The tunic and its dipping led to Joseph’s enslavement and ultimately to the enslavement of the Jewish people.

2. Before the Exodus from Egypt, God commands the Jewish people to take a cluster of hyssop, dip it into the blood of the Pesach offering and smear the doorposts and lintels of their home as a sign to the “destroyer” not to enter their homes and kill the firstborn. This act of dipping and smearing was a sacrificial rite done in service of God, breaking with Egyptian culture and values, and thereby consecrating the Jewish people.

Just as the process of our going down to Egypt began with an act of dipping, which is associated with slavery, so did our departure contain an act of dipping which symbolized our freedom. If the karpas dipping reflects our enslavement, the maror (bitter herbs) dipping symbolizes our movement to freedom.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה

Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, borei p’ree ha-adama.

We praise God, Ruler of Everything, who creates the fruits of the earth.

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